Step 2: Taking a right step backward.
Step 3: Dog circle from right to left of handler
Lesson 12: The Finish
Step 4: Dog complete the Finish by sitting next to handler
forward shifting to the correct leash grip. Your dog will adjust by crossing behind to keep you on his right. The dog should be walked through the Finish for one week, twelve times a day before starting the Correction.
Now do the recall from the sit-stay in the usual way and after the dog has sat in front of you, wait a few seconds, then arrange the leash-hand behind your leg. Bend your knee slightly and keep the leash taut. Command the dog to "Heel." He should respond immediately and move to your right and behind and around you to your left side. If he hesitates, make a driving step back into the leash with the right leg to propel the dog around to the
"Heel' position. If the dog stops and sits or stands behind you, you should explode a few steps forward.
The Koehler Method of Dog Training
Novice Obedience Class Handout Sheet 05 Down Stay
Give verbal command "Down ... and then verbal command "Stay" and leave dog with right foot first. (Progression is the same as that of Sit-Stay n end of leash by the end of the week.) Remember to move back to dog and make the down correction if dog moves.
Tab
Be sure it is on the dog's collar all week. Be careful of the length of the tab as you don't want your dog to get his leg caught in it or trap and choke himself. Do not leave your dog unattended while tab and collar are on.
The Finish
Call dog to you for recall. After he sits straight in front of you for a few seconds, tighten up the slack of the leash and place behind the right thigh with the leash in the right hand. Give command "Heel," step back and then step forward with the right leg, switching the leash behind your back to the left hand and step forward pulling the dog into heeling position. Praise dog after he sits.
1st & 2nd Day
1. Give down command and leave dog on "Down-Stay" with one step in front of dog. Give down correction if dog moves
2. Leave dog on Sit Stay for one minute at end of 15-foot long line.
Use distraction.
1. Place dog on Stand Stay, go three feet out, leave for 10 seconds and return around the dog
2. Leave on Sit-Stay and go to end of leash. After 20 seconds call dog. Dog should begin to come on command without tugging
leash. Finish dog.
3. Continue heeling and figure 8 3rd & 4th Day
1. Continue "Down Stay," two steps in front of dog.
2. Continue "Sit-Stay" on 15 foot longe line
3. Place on Stand-Stay; go to end of leash, wait for 30 seconds and
return around dog.
4. Continue Recall and finish on 6-foot leash.
5. Continue heeling and Figure 8 5th & 6th Day
1. Continue "Down-Stay," one minute at end of leash.
2. Use same format as with 3rd and 4th Days, except on "Stand-Stay. Continue Stand-Stay" at end of leash but have another person go over the dog. Correct if he moves.
REMEMBER: Polish heeling using a figure "8" pattern (use people, posts, trees, etc.) Incorporate new lessons into your regular training session and do them about 25 times per 20-minute period. Sit-stay should be up to 5 minutes by end of the week, n Progress, not Jump.
BRING THROW CHAIN TO CLASS NEXT WEEK!
Lesson 13: Polishing
Your dog has now learned seven exercises. He has become a bit more eas-ily managed on leash and improved on his behavior. If you are thorough in your efforts, your dog will benefit more in obedience and character in the next seven days. Now you have to make sure he's ready for off-leash control. Don't assume readiness. Get a piece of string you use for sewing, about a foot long, nothing stronger. Tie one end to the live ring of your training collar and the other end to the snap, the part where the leash is connected. We are about to find out whether you have been training your dog or restraining. It is also to show if early ineffective handling has delayed his learning to perform as expected.
Heeling and Sitting
Lay out a pattern of distracting points. Use at least three distractions. They should be different from ones you've used but just as appealing. Bring your dog into the area at heel and start using them in the usual way, making momentum-packed Right-About Turns the instant the dog is not paying attention. Each day, during the week of polishing, you should work to increase the strength of distractions. There is something else you can do.
Walk along with your dog at heel, and turn, as if for the usual right-about.
But now, as you pivot, take three running steps, then slow to you normal walking gait. Your dog has half the amount of time to change direction to avoid a jerk.
This speed-up can also be used coming out of Right-Turns as well. Make three of these turn-and-speed-up maneuvers, then make a turn at your
normal walking speed. You will find that your dog has increased the speed with which he reverses direction. If you do your part, the dog will turn good square corners and heel attentively in the correct position.
Automatic Sit
Work your turns with stops, especially where the dog seems a bit inatten-tive. If he fails to sit immediately, correct him so that he'll be reminded to always take distraction as a cue to think of you. If your dog sits out of
position, correct him. If the dog is scootching, give him a jerk that brings
Lesson 13: Polishing
him, airborne, back to where he knows he should be sitting. Be sure to use both hands locked together for any corrections. Reduce the leash slack just as you stop so that the dog can't back up without tightening the collar on himself. If your dog swings his rear away from you, and faces you as he sits, bring the stiffened left hand down in a sharp chop that will catch him in the loin.
Do not push or force your dog into position after he has sat. Catch him on the way down. When you dog has learned his lesson and is not swinging away, the hand could be used to give him a pat in appreciation.
Stand for Examination
No distractions should be used while polishing for the Stand-for-Examina-tion. Have your helper come toward your dog both slowly and rapidly and from all directions. The dog may now be gone over more thoroughly. Any disobedience on the stand should be met with corrections, only more force-fully.
The Down
Make sure that the dog gets on the down promptly even when under distraction. Give the Down command while standing upright. No stooping, gesture or curtsey when giving the Down command. He should respond simply to your command. Waiting for a movement from you when he is told to down, he's waited too long. Correct any delay. Sometimes your dog will try to anticipate a down after a 'sit.' Break him of that fault by giving enough slack to start down but not enough to get there.
Sit-Stay and Down-Stay
The principles are the same but at this point do not do not follow a Sit-Stay with a Down- Stay. After you finish one of the exercises, work on other things before practicing the second stay position. By the end of the first day, he should be holding a sit-stay for two minutes and a down-stay for five minutes while you face him from a leash length away.
Gain reliability by having the dog do his stays close to new distractions.
Along with the distractions, see if you can find a building with both angles of the corner unobstructed for at least ten feet. Place your dog on a stay
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Lesson 13: Polishing about two and a half feet back from the end of the building. Then step around the corner so that you are standing a loose leash length from the dog and hidden from his sight.
From the dog's standpoint, you've disappeared. He may break. If he goes away, the leash will tighten. If he comes towards you, you'll see him. Either way, he will learn that you can get to him in a hurry. Gradually increase the
length of these corners until, by the end of the week, your dog will hold the two minutes on the sit-stay and the five minutes on the down-stay with you hidden from sight. Always make sure that your dog holds until you have finished the exercise in the proper manner.
Recall
Do not use distractions while polishing the recall. Simply make sure that your dog does not sit more than a foot and a half in front of you. It should be a straight Sit. Be ready to lean forward and cut off any attempts to sit one side or sideways. The force of the "side chops" will make the dog aim for the comfort and praise for his correct sitting position.
Finish
Correct, when needed, to ensure accurate and prompt response.
After a week of polishing, check on your success. Link your collar and leash with the string. We do not want the string to be strong enough to hold your dog, only as a symbol of a relationship you have established. When the collar and leash are linked with the string, give the heel command and go for a tour around the premises, using random distractions. If your dog fails to perform any of the exercises, return to the practice of using the
leash until you are truly the boss.